


Storytime

by peacesigngirl21



Series: Conversations between Friends [1]
Category: Pocket Monsters: Sword & Shield | Pokemon Sword & Shield Versions
Genre: F/M, Light Angst/Comfort, just friends sharing funny stories to cheer each other up, literally nothing happens, sorry Bede fanclub, welcome to Bede fight club
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-03
Updated: 2020-11-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:22:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27361174
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/peacesigngirl21/pseuds/peacesigngirl21
Summary: "Hop, where are you right now?" Gloria asked over the Rotom phone. "You're not going to believe what I just saw."Gloria witnesses something insane and rushes to tell her best mate what happened--and if it gets him out of this weird depressive funk, that's good, too.
Relationships: Hop/Yuuri | Gloria
Series: Conversations between Friends [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2016394
Comments: 2
Kudos: 57





	Storytime

**Author's Note:**

> Somehow I've played through Sword like five times and I'm only just now writing Hop/Gloria? Take some useless fluff and friends being pals.

"Hop, where are you right now? Gloria asked over the Rotom phone. "You're not going to believe what I just saw."

Hop was currently sitting on the ledge next to the Pokémon Center in Ballonlea, watching Chinchou swim through the air, seemingly by magic. He opened his mouth to tell Gloria this, but she had already spotted the distinctive brilliant purple and pink hues of Ballonlea over his shoulder. 

"I'm on my way," she said. "Don't move a muscle!"

He saw her running to hail a Corviknight cab before the line went dead. 

Hop gently kicked the earth with the back of his shoe, feeling slightly guilty for dragging Gloria back to the town he knew she had just left. He tried not to wonder if he was always holding her back like this. Normally he was way ahead of Gloria, he rationalized. He'd just been a little off his game since his loss to that posh trainer Bede. Plus, when Hop went to challenge Opal, she was gone...

Hop threw himself flat on his back with a heaving sigh, legs still dangling off the ledge. The fairy lights above him twinkled peacefully, but they were no match for the harsh thoughts roiling in his head. Quiet moments like this only made his mind louder. In a desperate attempt to clear it, he wondered when the last time he saw Gloria was.

Oh. Back in Stow-on-Side, he challenged her with an almost completely new team, and she still stomped him into the ground. He really couldn't rely on Gloria for a confidence boost when it came to battling, could he? Hop wondered why he insisted on challenging her, knowing he would always lose. Gloria never challenged him. Probably because she knew it was a waste of her time and talents.

Someone kicked his leg. Hop had thrown an arm over his eyes at some point during his tormented train of thought, and he removed it now to glare at them.

It took a second for his eyes to focus on Gloria, her face framed by the starry forest lights. "Hiya, sleepyhead," she said in greeting before settling down next to him.

Hop sat up and couldn't help but notice his chin was a few inches above Gloria's now. It made him want to press their foreheads together, for whatever reason.

"You could look a little more excited to see me, ya know," Gloria said, lightly jabbing his chest with an elbow.

"I'm sorry you had to come all the way back here," Hop replied. He rubbed his face with the back of his hand so he wouldn't have to look at her.

"It'll be totally worth it to see your reaction in person," Gloria said. She pulled her legs to her chest and turned to face him full-on. They were sitting really closely now. 

Hop shifted a little towards her anyway. "Oh, right, what did you have to tell me?"

"So after we battled in Stow-on-Side"--Hop grimaced at the reminder of that awful battle--"I challenged Bea, won, whatever...and when I left the Gym, there was this massive boom, ya know?" Hop had taken a taxi back to the Wild Area to round up more Pokémon for his team, so he didn't know. He shook his head.

Gloria kept going. "Okay, well, there was this huge crashing sound coming from the top of the stairs, where the mural is. Sonia was there, too, so we both ran up there to see what was going on, right? And guess who was there!" Gloria was tapping her feet urgently, enraptured by her own story. Hop felt himself getting pulled in, too.

"I don't know, Lee?" he guessed. Gloria shook her head.

"No, it was Bede! And he had one of Chairman Rose's Pokémon, this incredible Copperajah, and he was telling it to ram into the mural!" Gloria said.

"What? Why?" Hop asked, leaning forward.

"He was looking for Wishing Stars! You know how he's always going on about those." Hop never listened to a word Bede said unless it was an insult toward him, but he nodded anyway.

"Sonia was really upset about him damaging the mural, so I challenged him to a battle, and obviously I won." Hop noted that Gloria was not being arrogant--it really was just obvious that she would win. "Then after the battle, who else storms up there other than Chairman Rose and his creepy assistant! You'll never believe what he said either."

Gloria's hand gripped Hop's shoulder and gave him a light shake. Hop felt himself grinning despite the sour mood he'd been in all day.

"What did he say?" he asked.

"Rose starts going on about how disappointed he is in Bede and how Bede doesn't care about the good of Galar...," Gloria said.

"He doesn't!" Hop interjected. "He's just a selfish prat who only cares about himself!"

"Yeah, I know, but then the Chairman disqualified him from the Gym Challenge!" Gloria shouted. The world seemed to slow down around Hop.

"What?" he whispered. "No way! Can he do that?"

"I guess so? Either way, Bede was on the verge of tears and just stomped off. It was so crazy, but I kind of forgot about it until I went with Opal back to Hammerlocke after our Gym battle..."

So that's where Opal went, Hop thought to himself.

Gloria kept talking. "And who did I see when I passed the Pokémon Center but Bede! He was standing all by himself like he was waiting for me, but he acted like he wasn't, ya know, and started talking about how I'd come to gloat and all this."

"What a prick," Hop mumbled. Gloria nodded vehemently.

"Exactly! I told him I didn't have time for any of that. I was just about to walk away when I spotted her out of the corner of my eye...," Gloria trailed off, motioning for Hop to give another guess.

"Uh...," Honestly, Hop was a little lost. "Opal?" he guessed hopefully.

"Yes! I turned around just in time to see Opal literally launch her cane away from her body, and I swear she started running at Bede in a dead sprint. Hop, you have never seen an 88-year-old woman move this fast. It was terrifying. So I'm standing there, just gawking as she's practically assaulting Bede, just touching his face and his clothes all over and screeching about how pink he is!" Gloria was shaking her head at the pure absurdity of the whole situation, and Hop found himself back on the ground, almost in tears from laughter. He couldn't bring himself to speak, so Gloria kept going.

"And I'm wondering, like, oh my god, should I call the police? Bede looks absolutely baffled, but he's not saying anything, and Opal just starts talking about how she's finally found the next Ballonlea Gym leader! I couldn't believe it. I mean, she passes on me, Leon, Sonia, and who knows how many other people, but Bede fits the bill? That lady clearly has no taste, Hop. Absolutely none."

Hop shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe you witnessed this all firsthand, Glo," he said. "That's an amazing story."

He realized he was still flat on his back in front of her, but he was actually more than a little comfortable, so he didn't move. Gloria took that as a cue to lay down next to him. Their arms pressed together as she shimmied to find a comfortable spot.

"To be honest, I was really hoping it would cheer you up," Gloria said quietly. She didn't have to speak up when they were this close, but it was barely above a whisper.

Hop searched for her hand on the ground and found it quickly, taking it in his own. "It really did, Gloria," he said. "Thank you."

Before he could react, Gloria threw herself back into a sitting position, towering over him.

"Hop, you've got to stop taking what other people say about you so seriously!" she said, eyes blazing. "I know it sucked to lose to Bede, but he's a total prat and doesn't know what he's talking about. You can't be so down on yourself because he said some things that weren't true!" She squeezed Hop's hand roughly.

Hop was a little awestruck in that moment, to be frank. He stared at her, open-mouthed.

"You're a great trainer, Hop," Gloria mumbled. "And you're my best mate, and it kills me to see you beating yourself up like this."

Though he really didn't want to let go of her hand, Hop dropped it to prop himself up so that they were face-to-face again. Once he was settled, he distracted himself from Gloria's intense gaze by pushing a wayward strand of hair behind her ear.

"I'm sorry, Glo," he said, meeting her eyes. "I'll try to do better. For you and for my team and for Lee."

His hand was still hovering by her ear when Gloria grabbed his wrist and nestled her cheek into it.

"Good, but I hope one day you'll try to do better for yourself, too," Gloria said, not looking the least bit aware of how she was making Hop's heart race. "Now how about we go get you that Fairy badge, huh? I'll come with you so I can punch Bede in the face if we see him."

Hop stood and offered a hand down to help Gloria up. This time he didn't let go.

...

"Do you think when Opal sees me, she'll drop Bede like a hot brick? I mean, she's got to, right?"


End file.
